Legendary pilot Scott Crossfield's body found in plane wreckage.

CNN/AP | 4/20/06

[antiRepublicrat]

I often read NTSB reports and am always astonished at how many accidents were truly preventable.

What gets me is the number of people who blow it in a twin-engine plane when one engine goes out. The study I read said that power loss accidents in twin-engine planes were more likely to be fatal than in single-engine planes, although the power loss accident rate for twin-engine planes was lower.

I guess when you lose your one engine your actions are simple and limited, but when you lose one of two, the number of actions goes up, increasing the chance for mistakes.

[Dashing Dasher]

See post #47

[Dashing Dasher]

Isn't it amazing how people will come to this thread - LOADED with Pilots and Aviation Enthusiasts - and tell us we are idiots?

Every so often, no comment is necessary.

UGH!

[Dashing Dasher]

I've lost an engine twice in (two different) single engine planes. Both times made it to a runway - safely.

It definitely gets your attention.

;

[oxcart]

See post #47, DashingDancer is one step ahead of us.

[Names Ash Housewares]

"let his wife (who was not a pilot) take the controls. The plane crashed and they all died."

The pilot is responsible for his aircraft. What he do? leave the cockpit during this?

[oxcart]

LOL, see post #85...you did it again.

[Loud Mime]

I had to re-read that post a couple of times before I believed my eyes.........why would someone want to say something so intellectually vacant and totally lacking in class at the same time?

I get the idea that he was a drug user and trying to become buds with a pilot. Maybe he was looking for somebody to help him import his habit's needful things.......

ycch.

[Dashing Dasher]

There was a large neon sign flashing "STAY CLEAR".

;-)

[Ole Okie]

Scott, you were one of my heros.

You said it well. Mine too.

[vetvetdoug]

I remember the incident. The plane in question was a KC-135.

[Publius6961]

May he rest in peace.
One of the pioneering legends...

[Publius6961]

When I die, I want to go peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather, not screaming in terror like his passengers...

That is so old! Booooooo!

But I can't help laughing a lot every time I see it...

[narby]

My point was not demeaning to anything.

You said that "I do know that roughly half the people who I personally have known in my life who regularly pilot private small planes have died in plane crashes."

That's anecdotal, and since you also admitted that you "know virtually nothing about piloting planes", then it's a worthless statement. You admit up front that you know nothing.

I wouldn't regularly fly small planes as an amatuer in a million years.

That's demeaning to a lot of us who have wrapped up most of our lives in flying. You're in essence calling us "wrong headed daredevils", and specifically calling Crossfield an "amatuer", which is a direct insult to the man.

If you're a good conservative, how did you feel on the day Ronald Reagan died? Your comment about Crossfield is equivalent to saying when hearing of his death "I don't know anything about politics, but I think Reagan was just a lousy actor".

Crossfield was one of a very few genuine aviation greats. And to those of us who love aviation your comments were out of line and disrespectful on the day he died.

[Publius6961]

LOL!
I should have known it'd be you!

[Regulator]

He survived this, too:

On June 8, 1960, he had another close call during ground tests with the XLR-99 engine. He was seated in the cockpit of the No. 3 X-15 when a malfunctioning valve caused a catastrophic explosion. Remarkably, he was once again uninjured and the airplane was completely rebuilt. On November 15 of the same year, he completed the X-15's first powered flight with the XLR-99 engine.

This was filmed, and every now and then the old Discovery Wings channel showed the clip. Watching it, it's hard to imagine anyone could survive, but he did.

[usmcobra]

There are old pilots,
There are bold pilots,
but there are almost no old bold pilots,

And we just lost one of those few.

[Paleo Conservative]

If you want on or off my aerospace ping list, please contact me by Freep mail.

[Dashing Dasher]

It wasn't me who actually said it - but I was there and LAUGHED!!!!

[dinoparty]

I never implied the decedant was an amatuer. Read my posts again. And yes, I know nothing about planes or piloting them. Neither do know anything about national statistics on aeronautics. I posted because I've experienced alot of friends and acquaintances in plane crashes, and this event reminded me of that.
In short, quit putting words in my mouth and get a clue, because you don't know what the hell you're talking about.